AI in the Workplace: AI and Human Collaboration

During the University of Colorado Boulder’s Career Community of Practice (CCOP) meeting, on Sept. 14, 2023, attendees called out comments about artificial intelligence and the influence AI holds in their lives. “Freaked out.” “Terrified.” “Excited.” “Dubious, but hopeful.” “Intrigued.” With AI as new as it is, many people do not know how to feel about AI entering the world of work. Nevertheless, the CCOP attempts to tackle “AI in the Workplace” to guide students and staff on how to use AI correctly and honestly as industries across the board use AI to vet job applications.

Most large-scale companies have found their large applicant pools hindering their recruitment and human resource teams as they trudge through each application themselves. AI has taken on an applicant screening and interviewing role, where fewer human eyes are on resumes and cover letters, and more algorithms scan through materials to match work experience or desired skills with the favorability of applicants. 

“It’s coming up in skill building, [and] people are pursuing AI as a career, both as an AI engineer or a prompt engineer,” said Dylan Mark, the internship director at the university’s Career Services.

Mark reveals how AI can be used for career and professional development within and outside of companies as AI professional roles become more common in the workplace. AI professionals are specialists who know how to operate AI software to produce needed materials for a company, such as logo design and concept maps, or possess coding knowledge to build their own AI algorithm. Although AI has been depicted as a competitor to humankind, it can also be seen as a tool that has opened up new employment opportunities within larger companies.

“I would say [AI] tools…allow a student to gain some confidence…[by using] the right sort of formatting,” said Kai Larsen, a professor of information systems in the division of organizational leadership and information analytics in the Leeds School of Business. “I do think that these tools, once they get mature enough, will give students a good sense of accomplishment and feeling more confident in sending in their resumes.”

Larsen has experienced the efficiency of using AI as a template when providing feedback to his students. Larsen introduced students who are more introverted, or feel uncomfortable when it comes to criticism, to AI resume editors so they could receive the immediate and direct feedback to make improvements to their writing and feel confident in the application process. However, Larsen warns the robotic writing style of resumes and cover letters written by AI stand out to employers, but a human touch adds passion to the piece. Larsen agrees that it is hard to deny the favorability of letting AI do the formatting while an applicant can add all the finer details to personalize their resume and cover letter to fit their style.

Jake Jedamus-Denu, an employer specialist for the College of Media, Communication and Information, Education and Environmental Design at Career Services, facilitated a cover letter activity for attendees during the CCOP meeting. The three cover letters included one written by AI, one written by an alum of the university, and one written by AI and edited for clarity and style by an alum before it was submitted as a mock application.

“Advancement in AI is incredibly innovative, but it can’t yet fully replicate the richness of human experience and communication,” Jedamus-Denu commented over email. 

The majority of attendees were able to identify which cover letters used or did not use AI. At the CCOP meeting, 54% of attendees correctly identified that the first cover letter was written by a human with the assistance of AI. Also, 46% of attendees at the meeting correctly identified the second cover letter as entirely written by a human. When asked which cover letter they thought was most effective, 49% of attendees at the meeting favored the human written cover over all the other options.

The newest use of AI through interviewing has made the barrier of access into large Fortune 500 companies more difficult. Rather than AI only screening applicants through key words from the job description and relevant previous work experience in one’s resume, AI now conducts stage one interviews with applicants. In automated video interviews (AVIs), an applicant records themselves answering prompted questions in advance. In most cases, the applicant’s recording is saved and later viewed by the hiring committee where they decide if the applicant makes it to the next stage of the hiring process. In other cases, AI could have a larger role where the footage is vetted by the algorithm looking for facial expressions, mannerisms and key words. AVIs that are more AI driven produce a report on the favorability of the applicant, and calculate the fit of the applicant before making the final call on whether or not to hire an applicant.   

April Abernethy, a relationships and connections program manager at Career Services, addressed how AI can help build career related skills in a non-traditional setting.

“The bias comes about especially in terms of career and recruiting,” Abernethy said. “[For] someone that might not have…social capital or know how to write certain things, [Quinncia] can actually help level the playing field because they can utilize AI.”

AI is a tool first as it provides a strong foundation for better writing habits when updating or creating a resume or cover letter for the first time. Although AI can craft the perfect response to a request for employment, employers are looking to hire a person and not a machine. A student’s hyper-dependency on the skeleton format AI creates sets the student at a loss if they want to stand out among other applicants, but using AI as a formatting guide for resume or cover letter writing can open up room for telling their own story.